Jumper for interconnecting dual-in-line sockets

ABSTRACT

A jumper for interconnecting the leads of dual-in-line sockets mounted on a panel board comprises the combination of a flat multi-conductor cable terminated at its opposite ends with a connecter, each connecter including a housing having a plurality of terminals which extend from the lower portion of the base for connection to the dual-in-line socket, while the upper portion of the terminals are disposed in the housing and respectively connected to the conductors of the flat multi-conductor cable. The arrangement of the terminals in the housing enables the conductors of the flat multi-conductor cable to be mass bonded to the terminals thereby providing a small and compact termination for the cable.

[ 51 May 1, 1973 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 6,609,304 1/1967Netherlands........................339/17F 977,312 11/1950France................................339/29 R Primary Examiner-MarvinA. Champion Assistant Examiner-Terrell P. Lewis Attorney-David Teschner[57] ABSTRACT A jumper for interconnecting the leads of dual-in-1inesockets mounted on a panel board comprises the combination of a flatmu1ti-conductor cable terminated at its opposite ends with a connecter,each connecter including a housing having a plurality of terminals whichextend from the lower portion of the base for connection to thedual-in-1ine socket, while the upper portion of the terminals aredisposed in the housing and respectively connected to the conductors ofthe flat multi-conductor cable. The arrangement of the ter & BettsCorporation, Elizabeth, NJ.

Aug. 2, 1971 Appl. No.: 168,257

NTS

United States Patent Key [54] JUMPER FOR INTERCONNECTING DUAL-IN-LINESOCKETS [75] Inventor: Edward H. Key, Doylestown, Pa.

[73] Assignee: Thomas [22] Filed:

[52] US. C1..........339/17 CF, 174/D1G. 3, 339/17 F, 339/19, 339/29,339/174, 339/196 [51] Int. Cl. 11/04, H05k 1/04 [58] Field ofSearch...................

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATE Ce. hh tt f cm a m e O m mn uodb w T r S8 u l .w emfl F mem M S i b o a w w m km D flfl 6 8 m e s m mm SOD. .l u a a m a m 9 mm n h Ru 1 m a m mmfi a a .m mm mfl w m XXXXXRXFFCR WR WW776W8 3 9/39 39 u3 333 "3 ma m "d u a de .5 n "n mr n ee mu no a m aa nrh SCBCAWW 5422081 6667737 9999999 1111111 /////I'/ 0294462 1137575300 1464460 7, 49496 6 555026 3333323 PATENTEUMY 1 1915 SHEET 1 OF3 INVENTOR.

Mama /7. K5 F 3 BY I ATIWRA' PATENTED W 1 191a SHEET 3 [1F 3 FIG. 5

JUMPER FOR INTERCONNECTING DUAL-IN- LINE SOCKETS This invention relatesto a jumper for interconnecting electrical components such asdual-in-line sockets which are mounted on an integrated circuit boardand, more particularly, to a jumper comprised of the combination of aflat multi-conductor cable terminated at opposite ends, oralternatively, at opposite ends and intermediate the ends thereof, withconnecters adapted to be accommodated in standard dual-in-line socketsused in integrated circuit panel boards.

Miniaturized circuits are employed on an ever-increasing scale incomplex electronic equipment. The practices in the technology haveevolved such that it is now common practice to use what have becomeknown as integrated circuits, or physically small units containing anentire circuit (rather than a single electric element), and to mountthese integrated circuit packs or units to printed circuit boards andthe like. It was early practice to mount the electrical contacts orterminals of these integrated circuits directly to points on theintegrated circuit board. In other cases, the electronic circuit packswere mounted directly to a dielectric board, with the terminalsextending through the board for connection to conductors by wirewrapping or soldering.

Through a gradual evolutionary use of these techniques, it is now morecommon and desirable to mount electronic integrated circuit packs to aterminal board or printed circuit board for easy removal and exchangingof individual units. Accordingly, sockets are now often provided forreceiving the pins (contacts) of the integrated circuit pack. Thesesockets generally include a dielectric housing supporting electricalcontacts for receiving the pins of the integrated circuit, the contactshaving long pins, or posts, extending from the lower part of the housingfor insertion through holes in the integrated or printed circuit board.Furthermore, the sockets are configured to include generally two rows ofelectrical contacts, whereby the term dual-in-line sockets is derived.When the socket is mounted in place on the integrated circuit board, theterminal posts extend to the back side of the printed circuit board,providing terminal posts for receiving wrapped wires or other commontype of conductor connections for joining the integrated circuit toother components on the same or other circuit boards.

During the assembly of an integrated circuit board, and moreparticularly, during the assembly of the integrated circuit packs intothe various dual-in-line sockets provided on an integrated circuitboard, it is often desirable to interconnect two sockets with commonelectrical leads in order to test the sub-assembly. For this purpose, itis common practice to provide a jumper cable, commonly referred to asmerely a jumper, which is terminated at its opposite ends withconnecters adapted to be received within the dual-inline sockets mountedon the integrated circuit board.

Heretofore, a common jumper employed in the industry consist of aplurality of wires extending between connecters having a plurality oftenninals corresponding to the dual-in-line contacts of the socketsprovided on the integrated circuit board. The individual wires areindividually terminated to the terminals of the connecters, with theresulting assembly being extremely bulky and expensive to manufacture.With respect to the bulkiness of the resulting connecters, it mustconstantly be borne in mind that the jumper is to be employed withminiaturized circuitry, and accordingly miniaturization of all thecomponents for use in the assembly is of utmost importance.

Along these lines, it is noted that there are several attributesconsidered desirable in a jumper for interconnecting the dual-in-linesockets, including miniaturization of the jumper, flexibility of theinterconnecting leads or cable of the jumper to enable ease of assembly,reliability, and low cost. It is an object of the present invention toprovide all of the attributes in a single jumper and, to this end, toovercome the failure of the prior art devices to satisfy one or more ofthese requirements.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In general, these and other objects of theinvention are met by a jumper including a flat multi-conductor cableterminated at opposite ends with connecters, each including a basehaving a plurality of channels through which extend terminals thatprovide posts for interconnection to the sockets, and an integralcontact portion extending partially along the upper surface of the base.The conductors of the flat multi-conductor cable are electrically andmechanically connected to the integral contact portions of theterminals, after which the upper cover structure of the connecter isbonded to said base to encase the electrical connections between thecable and terminals, and in addition,

provide a strain relief for said electrical connections.

The use of a flat multi-conductor cable ensures flexibility of thejumper, and in addition, provides the required miniaturization for usein integrated circuit boards. In addition, each terminal of theconnecters is in the form of an L-shaped member, one leg of which extendthrough the base and forms the terminal post, while the upper leg orintegral contact portion is suitably configured so as to extend alongthe upper surface of the base in electrical isolation from adjacentterminals, with the resulting arrangement of the integral contactportions corresponding to the pitch or spacing between conductors of themulti-conductor cable, thereby enabling the multi-conductor cable to bebonded to the contact portions of the terminals using conventional massbonding techniques, thereby significantly decreasing the cost ofmanufacture of the subject jumper. Another feature of the subject deviceis the provision of ribs on the upper portion of the base to furthercompartmentalize or electrically isolate the integral contact portionsof the terminals from one another, thereby assuring electricalreliability of the connecter and thejumper.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a better understanding of theinvention, together with the further objects and advantages thereof, thefollowing detailed description of a preferred embodiment and thedrawings may be referred to, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of several jumpers according to theinvention, together with a representative integrated circuit board ofthe type with which the invention may be used;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of one end of the jumper of thesubject invention, and illustrating a flat multi-conductor cable and theconnecter for use therewith;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a stamped strip of metal from which theterminals of the connecter of the subject invention are made;

FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view in plan form of one end of the jumperof the subject invention;

FIG. 5 is a view taken along the lines 55 in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along lines 66 in FIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 illustrates the manner inwhich the jumper of the subject invention may be employed forinterconnecting dual-in-line sockets of an integrated circuit board.Dual-in-line sockets 10 include posts 11 which extend through uniformlyspaced holes in integrated circuit board 12 and protrude from theunderside of the integrated circuit board 12 in order to provide aterminal connection for conductors and the like. In this matter, allconductor wiring (printed or otherwise) is made at the underside of theintegrated circuit board 12. The sockets 10 are adapted to accommodateelectronic integrated circuit components, such as the small rectangularintegrated circuit packs 15, with the pins (not shown) of the integratedcircuit packs 15 being fitted into receptacles in the intermediatesockets 10 thereby establishing electrical connection between the units15 and the associated posts 12.

Several jumpers made according to the teaching of the subject inventionare illustrated in FIG. 1 as interconnecting a plurality of sockets 10mounted on the integrated circuit board 12. Each jumper 20 includes fiatmulti-conductor cable 21 terminated at its opposite ends by connectors22. If desired, an intermediate connecter 22 may be provided in a jumper20 in order to establish a common connection between 3 sockets 10. Ofcourse, additional connecters may also be provided intermediate thelength of the flat multi-conductor cable 21 to interconnecting even agreater number of sockets 10. The jumper 20 shown in FIG. 1, which isthe subject of the invention, will now be described in more detail.

FIG. 2 illustrates one end of the jumper 20 of the subject invention inexploded perspective view. The opposite end of the jumper 20 is ofsimilar construction, and includes flat multi-conductor cable 21consisting of a plurality of generally parallel conductors 41 embeddedin a strip of insulating material, such as plastic polyethylenematerial. The conductors 41 may be round, or as shown, flat orrectangular in cross-section, with the lateral spacing between theconductors 41 being designated as the pitch p of the cable. In order toconnect the cable 21 to the connecter 22 of the jumper 20, theinsulation is stripped from the end of the cable thereby exposingconductors 41 which are then pre tinned, for purposes to be more fullydescribed hereinafter.

The connecter 22 generally comprises housing including base 50 and uppercover structure 52 and terminals 51. Base 50 is generally rectangular inconfiguration, and is made of a dielectric material such as glass fillednylon, and includes two upstanding walls or shoulders 61, each of whichis provided with an alignment aperture, as at 62. The shoulders orsupporting walls 61 of the base 50 extend up to an amount so as toproperly locate the upper cover structure 52. More particularly,shoulders 61 provide sufficient clearance between the cover structure 52and the upper surface of the base 50 in order to lightly grip the cable40 thereby providing in effect a strain release against the pulling ofthe cable 21 from the connecter 22. Furthermore, shoulders 61 preciselylocate the cable 21 in the base 50.

Base 50 also include a plurality of channels 63 arranged in two rowscorresponding to the contacts in the duaI-in-line sockets 10, with eachchannel 63 being specifically configured in a funnel-shape toaccommodate the similarly configured terminals 51. FIG. 5 illustratesthe configuration of the funnel-shaped channels 63, and it is noted thatthe configuration of the channels 63 along one row of the base 50 isidentical to the configuration of the channels 63 in the opposite row.Also, the greater dimension of each funnel-shaped channel 63 is at theupper surface of the base 50. The funnel-shaped configuration of thechannels 63 provides several advantages. First, it provides greatercontact area between the terminals 51 and the base 50 in order toachieve greater rigidity of the terminals 51. Secondly, thefunnel-shaped configuration aids in facilitating assembly of theminiaturized terminals 51 into the base 50, and finally, the differentfunnel-shapes of the channels 63 ensures proper assembly of theterminals 51 into the base 50.

Formed integral with the base 50 and disposed on the upper surface ofthe base 50 intermediate the rows of channels 63 are a plurality ofgenerally parallel ribs 64 which are spaced on a pitch corresponding tothe pitch of the flat multi-conductor cable 21. The pitch is indicatedby the letter p, which corresponds to the pitch of cable 21. Disposed onthe lower portion of the base 50 are two recesses 65 provided below theshoulders 61 in order to enable the connecter 22 to be gripped by aconventional tweezer-like device to facilitate extraction of theconnecter from a socket 10.

Terminals 51 are adapted to the mounted within the channels 63 in thebase 50, and are configurated to correspond to the funnel-shapedconfiguration of the channels 63. Each terminal 51 is L-shape inconfiguration, including a terminal post portion 73 which is adapted toextend through a channel 63 in the base 50 to provide a terminal postexternal of the connecter 22,

and an integral contact portion 74 which is adapted to r be disposed onthe upper surface of the base 50 between the rows of channels 63, andbetween a pair of ribs 64, with the transverse spacing between theintegral contact portions 74 corresponding to the pitch of the flatmulti-conductor cable 21. In order to achieve this, the terminals 51 areformed in a manner so as to alternate with the terminals 21 extendingfrom the channels 63 in the opposite side of the connecter 22.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, a convenient method of forming the terminals21 is to provide a blank of electrically conductive material such asphosphor bronze or copper, and to form one row of terminals by aconventional stamping operation. The resulting stamped structure isillustrated in FIG. 3 and consists of a plurality of terminals 51attached at their opposite ends by common carrier strips 71 and 72.Following stamping operation, the terminals 51 are bent at a 90 angle inorder to form the L-shaped configuration, after which the stamping, inits configuration with the terminals 51 and the carrier strips 71, 72,is gold plated in a conventional batch process. The purpose ofmaintaining the carrier strips 71 and 72 on the terminals 51 is tofacilitate handling of the latter. Following gold plating of the stampedstructure, the stamping is coined along the extremities of the terminals51 so as to enable the carrier strips 71 and 72 to be broken off quiteeasily.

In order to assemble the L-shaped terminals 51 into the base 50, carrierstrip 72 disposed along the terminal post portions 73 of the terminals51 is broken off from the stamping, followed by the insertion of theterminal posts 73 of the terminals 51 into channels 63. When theterminals 51 are fully seated into the channels 63, the remainingcarrier strip 71 is broken off thereby enabling the integral contactportions 74 of the terminals 51 to be fully seated into place betweenalternating ribs 64. The terminals 51 for the opposite row of channels63 are then assembled into the base in the same manner.

The cover structure 52 of the connecter is generally rectangular in planform corresponding to the configuration of the base 50, and includes twodepending studs 80 which are accommodated in the apertures 62 in base50. As is conventional in electronic components used in integratedcircuitry, one corner 81 of the cover structure is champfered in orderto identify the proper alignment of the connecter in the dual-in-linesocket 10. The cover 52 is preferably made of the same dielectricmaterial as the base 50.

In the assembly of the jumper of the subject invention, after theterminal pins 51 have been placed in the channels 63, the stripped endof the flat conductor cable 21 would be placed onto the base 50, withthe exposed conductors 41 being aligned with the respective integralcontact portions 74 of the terminals 51, and between the upstanding ribs64 of the base 50. Preferably, both the exposed conductors 41 and theintegral contact portions 74 of the terminals 51 are pretinned whereby,after the conductors 41 and integral contact portions 74 are aligned inthe base 50, a soldered electrical connection is established between theconductors 41 and the terminals 51 by a conventional mass bondingtechnique. Next, a suitable adhesive such as epoxy would be applied tothe upper portion of the base 50, and the cover 52 would be placed ontothe base. The epoxy serves several functions, one of which is to holdthe electrical contacts between the conductors 41 and terminals 51 inplace; to provide strain relief for the cable 21; and to provideadhesive for glueing the cover 52 to the base 50.

FIGS. 4 through 6 illustrate the assembled connecter forming a portionof the subject jumper 20. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the pitch betweenthe conductors 41, the integral contact portions 74 of terminals 51, andthe ribs 64 of the base 50 is identical. Furthermore, the specificconfiguration of the terminals 51 enable complete electrical isolationbetween adjacent terminals. As shown in FIG. 5, the terminal postportions 73 of the terminals 51 are configurated to correspond to thefunnel-shaped channels 63. Preferably, terminals 51 are inserted with aclearance fit into the channels 63 in order to facilitate rapid assemblyof the connecter 22. FIG. 6 illustrates a cross section showing aconductor 41 soldered as at to the integral contact portion 74 of aterminal 51, with the epoxy being indicated by the numeral 91.

The opposite end of the cable 21 is similarly terminated by a connecter22, as illustrated in FIG. 2, thereby providing a jumper 20 adapted tobe connected at its opposite ends to conventional dual-in-line sockets10. If desired, a daisy-chain" jumper may be readily manufactured usingthe connecter illustrated and described with reference to FIGS. 2through 6. In such instance, the flat multi-conductor cable 21 would beterminated at opposite ends with connecters 22, and also intermediatethe length of the cable 21. A portion of the insulation would bestripped from the cable 21 so as to expose a short length of conductors41. The connecter 22 to be employed intermediate the length of the cable21 is identical to that illustrated in FIG. 2, in which case the exposedconductors 41 would extend a distance respectively corresponding to thedistance between the rows of channel 63 in base 50.

As is readily apparent, since the multi-conductor flat cable 21 isextremely flexible, the jumper 20 of the subject invention is readilyadaptable for employment in miniaturized integrated circuit boards.

It should thus be appreciated that the invention offers many newadvantages. The jumper 20 is extremely flexible; provides an extremelyreliable and compact connecter for connection to sockets in anintegrated circuit board; is cheap to manufacture; and is extremelyreliable in that the conductors are soldered or welded to the terminals.Furthermore, the arrangement of the cover and the base of the housing ofthe connecter provide a strain relief means for ensuring reliability andruggedness of the jumper.

Although the invention has been described with reference to a preferredembodiment, numerous modifications and variations, both in form anddetail, might occur to those skilled in the art. For example, theconductors of the flat conductor cable may be welded to the terminalpins. Additionally, the invention applies to jumpers having contactconfigurations other than that illustrated in the preferred embodiment,as well as to sockets of various contact arrangements and geometries.Accordingly, all such modifications and variations are intended to beincluded within the scope and spirit of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A jumper for interconnecting electrical components of an integratedcircuit board including dualin-line sockets comprising the combinationof a flat multi-conductor cable and connectors terminating the oppositeends of said cable, each connector including: a base having a pluralityof channels extending therethrough; each of said channels beingfunnelshaped, with the greatest transverse dimension thereof beingadjacent the upper surface of said base; a plurality of L-shapedterminals, each comprised of a terminal post portion configuredgenerally similar to its associated funnel-shaped channel receivedwithin its associated channel and protruding from the underside of saidbase to provide a terminal external to said connector, and of anintegral contact portion extending at least partially from the uppersurface of said base in electrical isolation from adjacent terminals andconnected to a conductor of said multi-conductor cable; and an uppercq-ver structure bonded to said base so as to encase the electricalconnections between the multiconductor cable and said terminals.

2. A jumper as in claim 1 in which the integral contact portion of theterminal is soldered to its associated conductor of the flatmulti-conductor cable.

3. A jumper for interconnecting electrical components of an integratedcircuit board including dualin-line sockets comprising the combinationof a flat multi-conductor cable and connectors terminating the oppositeends of said cable, each connector including: a base having a pluralityof channels extending therethrough; a plurality of terminals eachcomprised of a terminal post received within a channel and protrudingfrom the underside of said base to provide a terminal external to saidconnector, and of an integral contact portion extending at leastpartially from the upper surface of said base; a series of parallel ribsformed integrally on the upper surface of said base, each of said ribsextending between adjacent ones of said integral contact portions tomaintain electrical isolation between adjacent terminals; each of saidintegral contact portions being connected to a conductor of saidmulti-conductor cable; and an upper cover structure bonded to said baseso as to encase the electrical connections between the multi-conductorcable and said terminals.

4. A jumper as in claim 3 wherein the upper cover structure is bonded tothe base by epoxy.

5. A jumper as in claim 3 wherein the upper cover structure includes apair of projections, and the base includes a pair of correspondingrecesses, whereby said projections and recesses cooperate to maintainalignment between said upper cover structure and base.

6. A jumper as in claim 3 wherein the channels in the base are arrangedin two parallel rows.

7. A jumper as in claim 3 wherein the base and upper cover structure aremade of plastic material.

8. A jumper as in claim 3 further including a third connector disposedintermediate the length of the flat multi-conductor cable and connectedto the conductors thereof.

9. A jumper as in claim 3 wherein the base includes two rows ofchannels, with the integral contact portions of the terminals in eachrow alternating with the integral contact portions of the terminal ofthe other row to define a common contact line of the upper surface ofthe base intermediate the rows of channels.

1. A jumper for interconnecting electrical components of an integratedcircuit board including dual-in-line sockets comprising the combinationof a flat multi-conductor cable and connectors terminating the oppositeends of said cable, each connector including: a base having a pluralityof channels extending therethrough; each of said channels beingfunnelshaped, with the greatest transverse dimension thereof beingadjacent the upper surface of said base; a plurality of L-shapedterminals, each comprised of a terminal post portion configuredgenerally similar to its associated funnel-shaped channel receivedwithin its associated channel and protruding from the underside of saidbase to provide a terminal external to said connector, and of anintegral contact portion extending at least partially from the uppersurface of said base in electrical isolation from adjacent terminals andconnected to a conductor of said multi-conductor cable; and an uppercover structure bonded to said base so as to encase the electricalconnections between the multi-conductor cable and said terminals.
 2. Ajumper as in claim 1 in which the integral contact portion of theterminal is soldered to its associated conductor of the flatmulti-conductor cable.
 3. A jumper for interconnecting electricalcomponents of an integrated circuit board including dual-in-line socketscomprising the combination of a flat multi-conductor cable andconnectors terminating the opposite ends of said cable, each connectorincluding: a base having a plurality of channels extending therethrough;a plurality of terminals each comprised of a terminal post receivedwithin a channel and protruding from the underside of said base toprovide a terminal external to said connector, and of an integralcontact portion extending at least partially from the upper surface ofsaid base; a series of parallel ribs formed integrally on the uppersurface of said base, each of said ribs extending between adjacent onesof said integral contact portions to maintain electrical isolationbetween adjacent terminals; each of said integral contact portions beingconnected to a conductor of said multi-conductor cable; and an uppercover structure bonded to said base so as to encase the electricalconnections between the multi-conductor cable and said terminals.
 4. Ajumper as in claim 3 wherein the upper cover structure is bonded to thebase by epoxy.
 5. A jumper as in claim 3 wherein the upper coverstructure includes a pair of projections, and the base includes a pairof corresponding recesses, whereby said projections and recessescooperate to maintain alignment between said upper cover structure andbase.
 6. A jumper as in claim 3 wherein the channels in the base arearranged in two parallel rows.
 7. A jumper as in claim 3 wherein thebase and upper cover structure are made of plastic material.
 8. A jumperas in claim 3 further including a third connector disposed intermediatethe length of the flat multi-conductor cable and connected to theconductors thereof.
 9. A jumper as in claim 3 wherein the base includestwo rows of channels, with the integral contact portions of theterminals in each row alternating with the integral contact portions ofthe terminal of the other row to define a common contact line of theupper surface of the bAse intermediate the rows of channels.